The actor is famed for performing death-defying feats, without appearing to break into a sweat but the Hollywood star revealed that hanging off the side of an aircraft as it takes off was almost a 'Mission Impossible', even for him.

In a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, he reveals the terrifying moment he clings to the side of an aircraft as it takes off at around 160mph.

The actor clings on for dear life as the plane takes off leaving the runway behindParamount

Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood, who is the brains behind the high octane feats in the film, explains that it was all Cruises' idea. "Why hang a multimillion dollar star on the outside of an aeroplane and fly around in the normal world? But Tom wanted to be on the outside of that plane."

He adds that if the stunt were to go wrong, the consequences would fatal. "There's no little crash and a splash; you're dead".

The 53-year-old star, who has previously scaled the Burj Khalifa and hung from a cliff edge by one hand, admitted to a bout of nerves ahead of the stunt. "I couldn't sleep the night before," he said. "And then came the day. I was like "OK, this is really going to happen".

As shooting the dangerous sequence begins, it is revealed that Cruise is only supported by a very thin cable as he scales the A400m Atlas military transport plane.

Tom Cruise revealed he was apprehensive ahead of the high octane stuntParamount

"If something went wrong, I can't get into the aeroplane till we land," he explains.